When Azuma asks Aoba whether Akane really does look like Wakaba, Aoba says, just as Ko did, that in her mind Wakaba is still in fifth grade. Ryuo loses in the semifinal at Koshien. One morning after the Takigawa soba restaurant opens, when Akane and Ko walk to the train station together, he accidentally takes her case of art supplies and goes to her school to return it, where he helps stop an exhibitionist by hitting him with a baseball. During practice, when Aoba makes a bad pun, Azuma tells her she and Ko are a lot alike. Akane meets Momiji at a park where they both are sketching and walks her home, where Aoba and her father formally meet Akane for the first time. After Aoba rescues Akane from being harassed by some boys, Akane recognizes her from Ko's description of the three Tsukishima sisters. Aoba later asks Ko why he didn't tell Akane about Wakaba, then admits that Akane is very like Wakaba beyond just appearance.
光や青葉の周りでは、あかねがどれだけ若葉に似ているかという話題で持ち切りとなる。滝川家の工事が終わり、樹多村家の隣に引っ越してくるあかね。近所ということもあり、あかねは樹多村家や月島家と接するようになる。光とあかねが近づくことを面白く感じていない青葉は、あかねに対して刺のある態度で接してしまい…。
코우와 아오바의 주변 사람들은 아카네가 얼만큼 와카바와 닮았는지를 궁금해한다. '내 안의 와카바는 초등학교 5학년 때 그대로이다. '라고 이야기하면서도, 두 사람은 내심 아카네에게 신경이 쓰이고 있었다. 그리고 공사가 끝난 9월, 코우의 옆집으로 아카네가 이사를 오게 되는데...
